The Waiting Years
by the-bird-flies
Summary: Hinata was always good at waiting.
1. Dancer of the Night

The lights glitter around her as she stands, hidden away in a corner, pearl eyes and dark hair mixing and balancing the shadows. All around her the music throbs a continuous beat, making her shiver at its dangerous warning. She can't seem to think clearly in this heady atmosphere of lights and lust; one more dangerous than the other.

Yet her friends are out there. The bright blond head, moving with a brunette one, while, off to one side, like her, is the pale rose. They all move gracefully, all relaxed yet tensed; she wonders how they do it.

And a part of her wants to join them. A part of her wants to strip off the mask and leap in, dancing away all of her troubles, drinking deep down into her soul. They don't have a clan to contain, to control. She must be cool, considerate at all times.

But still…

Sometimes—most of the time, says a treacherous little voice—she just wants to run away from it all, to give it all to someone else. Like a costume that she'd outgrown, a slightly ripped kimono; let someone else take this burden. But it would be selfish, disrespectful.

They all taught her things. The men, Naruto especially, taught her to be strong. Ino taught her power, Tenten relaxation and a cool head in battle. And Sakura…she couldn't really define what that girl—woman, now—had let her learn without even realizing it. Compassion. Emotion. Loyalty.

And never to forget. They had all let her know that; if she ever forgot any of this, let her then die. And so she could not forget the rules, the expectations of the Hyuuga House for one second.

…But she could maybe, just maybe, let them leave her mind for just a few moments, enough time to slide out of the shy little girl and into the real Hinata, the one that she longed to be.

But she couldn't. Not now. Perhaps some other time, when things weren't as difficult to understand, weren't as complicated as they were now. Maybe when she knew how to dance, she would dance. Maybe when she knew how much to drink, she would drink. But now? She was simply contented to wait.

Waiting is sometimes the best way to go. She knew that. So she did.


	2. Sometimes

Sometimes it seemed like the whole world was waiting for her to fall, to make a mistake. Sometimes it seemed that everyone had turned away from her, like a single spectator at the back of the crowd, only just able to see the main attraction through the people. And at those times, when it seemed like nothing would work, she simply walked away, leaving whatever they were watching and slipping out the back into the night. Now was one of those times.

The stars were bright as she wandered through the fields behind her house, reflected in her pale eyes. The moon, full, bathed the world in silver and black shadows, painting her along with it. Silence was the perfect sound as she wandered among the tall grass, not caring if it was getting the hem of her kimono muddy or if anyone saw her.

She reached the lake, staring out at its glass surface with a mystified gaze. How could something so perfect be a threat? It seemed that everything was like that. She wasn't sure if she enjoyed it.

Something moved across the lake and she stopped walking, watching it. It almost looked like a person, a woman, her hair loose in the night. Whoever it was knelt, touching the water.

She crouched down, her knees pressed into the moist sand at the edge of the river, dipping her fingers into its dark surface, and reached out, sending droplets of chakra speeding across the lake like ripples.

The person at the other side looked up as her chi touched the girl's fingertips, her cherry hair swinging over her shoulder. They gazed at each other, the wide expanse of water like a trickle and at the same time a sea. Emerald met pearl and mixed, falling into each other.

She didn't know how long she knelt there, her legs now soaked through the material, only that she was happy. And she could feel that the figure was too, her aura pulsing around her like a great blue fire. Finally the person drew back, looking into the woods as the echo of a word was heard. Sharpening her hearing for only a second, though, she heard it, and, smiling, she stood and began to return to the house, her confidence restored.

_Sakura. _


	3. Wet Wings

_The rain fell and she was glad.  
__The rain fell and she was grateful.  
__The rain fell and her thirst was quenched.  
__The rain fell and that was how it was._

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She felt the strain on her shoulders as the weight of the clouds fell upon her, crushing her from the inside. Gasping for air, she plunged through the clouds, losing her wings as she did, all of the chakra that went into them spilling out along with the blood that coated her back as they were ripped away. A scream built up in the back of her throat, but she kept it there, knowing that letting it out would release the little oxygen that she had left. Her lungs were empty, her mind drowning in the bliss of letting everything go…

The earth was speeding up to meet her, the wind battering her as she plunged through the air, all conscious thought lost. For a moment she thought that she would die, but something caught her, lifting her up and away.

A pair of arms were wrapped around her waist, hoisting her up higher and higher then slowly sliding down to earth, landing gracefully. She choked and whoever placed their mouth over hers, blowing air—how welcome it was, the ability to breathe again!—into her lungs, filling them, acting as her breath, her lifeline. She shuddered and began to take in huge gulps of air, her chest expanding again and again. Whoever it was above her lifted her up again, cradling her torso.

"Careful…Don't exert yourself Hina." The voice had a playful tone, its timbre light and cheerful. She saw a rim of rosette at the top of her vision and smiled slightly before continuing the struggle to live.

"You'll be okay," whispered the voice as she half flipped the girl in her lap, placing one hand with its healing chakra over the holes in her back. Concentrating, her arm and the wounds began to glow blue, sluggish strings gently sliding in and stitching up the tears, repairing bones and muscles as it went. Finally the process ended and Hinata sat up, feeling tears creeping up behind her vision. Not tears of fear, but of relief.

She looked up into the green eyes of her savior and noticed that they were over bright, as though concealing a river.

"You had me scared there, Hinata," Sakura said, smiling for the girl's sake. Slowly she drew her own bat-like wings back into her body, grimacing as she did so. It was so odd…Seeing two girls in the sky, one of the wings of an angel, the other like a looming dragon. They had joked about it, staging training fights where one of them fell and the other swooping the rescue just in time. At some points, "just in time" had been when they both crash landed into soft dirt or water, always coming up laughing.

They were both shuddering and suddenly, instinctively, Hinata reached out her arms and drew the other girl into them, feeling Sakura clasp her and shake. She had felt the fear; she could only imagine what it must have been like to watch.

"Hey, Hinata?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's wait awhile before we do that again."

They both laughed nervously and drew apart. The Hyuuga heiress suddenly felt uncomfortable, like she had felt around Naruto, and noticed that Sakura was blushing slightly, her short hair falling into her eyes. It was always short now; it was her way of telling people that she had forgotten about the Uchiha; that she had given up. A small part of her was glad of that; however, she had no idea why.

_It's so much easier  
__To love  
__When you know  
__Why you love._

"Sakura?" She watched the girl as she stood, her gaze somewhere else. She knew that look; Sakura reserved it for when she was thinking, and truly thinking. She could hear her low breathing, even as though she were meditating. And in a way she was really. The wind tossed her hair playfully, whipping it around her face like a doll's. She was too beautiful then, a storm tossed angel looking for a home.

"Hinata…" she breathed, almost as though it were a question.

"H-hai?" Her voice trembled, something it hadn't done in years.

Sakura opened her mouth as though to say something, then stopped, instead walking forward and putting her arms around her neck, burying her face in her shoulder. Hinata embraced her, moving her legs so that they fit together. They were almost like a puzzle; each was like the missing piece to the other.

Her body was on fire again, it seemed, both with Sakura's heat and her own. She shivered slightly and placed her lips in the girl's pink hair, gently rocking her back and forth as she felt the girl sobbing, both out of fear and relief, judging by the erratic pulsing of her heart. The warmth of her tears soaking through her shirt was comforting, a negative thing made positive.

They sat like that for what felt like no time at all, yet seemed to stretch on forever. She would never forget that moment, especially not when her friend raised her head, eyes red from crying, and looked into her eyes.

For a brief second, time stopped. Then slowly, ever so slowly, it started up again, chugging back into action with a stolid confidence. She looked down and realized that their fingers were entwined, but it didn't matter anymore. Nothing did.

"Hinata…" Sakura finally whispered, her voice soft.

"Yeah?"

"It's raining…"

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_The rain falls on  
__Wet, wet wings,  
__Soaking through_

_Right to the bone.  
__And for a moment,  
__Everything is fine._

_Because…_

_The rain fell and she was glad.  
__The rain fell and she was grateful.  
__The rain fell and her thirst was quenched.  
__The rain fell and that was how it was._


End file.
